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6 News
AIR FORCE September 17, 2009
Tiger transit a first
SLIM FIT: Neil Murphy, an Australian Aerospace Armed Reconnaissance
Helicopter Maintenance Engineer, and SGT Adam Olding, a
loadmaster with 36SQN, are happy with the loading of the Tiger Armed
Reconnaissance Helicopter A38-13 into a C-17 in preparation for its first
transit flight.
Photo: CPL Peter Borys
Hooked on
new helo
LIFTING JOB: Two air dispatchers from AMTDU at RAAF Base Richmond hook up a 105mm Hamel gun
to an MRH90 helicopter during an external lift trial at RAAF Base Townsville.
Photo: CPL Col Dadd
By FLTLT Eamon Hamilton
AIR FORCE is giving its tick
of approval to the latest Multi-
Role Helicopters being cleared for
operations.
Air Movements Training and
Development Unit (AMTDU)
recently provided engineering sup-
port to external cargo hook trials
for the MRH90 at RAAF Base
Townsville.
The MRH90 will replace Army
Black Hawks and Navy Sea Kings,
with 46 being purchased for the
ADF.
Like most utility helicopters,
it comes equipped with a hook
beneath the fuselage to lift 'exter-
nally slung' loads. These affect the
weight and balance of a helicopter,
as well as how they move in air-
stream when the helicopter flies.
AMTDU is responsible for test-
ing and clearance of all new loads
on ADF aircraft.
MRH90 Project Director COL
Andrew Mathewson said the aim
was to "clear commonly used
Army training loads as well as
specific load lifting equipment
used by the RAN during vertical
replenishment operations to ships
while at sea".
Working to the MRH90 Project
Office, along with staff from 5
Aviation Regiment, AMTDU helped
clear a number of loads for the
MRH90's cargo hook. They ranged
from a collapsible fuel bladder
through to a Hamel gun and finally
a Land Rover.
"The resulting clearances will
allow the first course of Army and
Navy pilots and aircrewmen, cur-
rently under training in Australia,
to begin learning how to operate
the MRH90 in the load lifting con-
figuration," COL Mathewson said.
SQNLDR Damien Hare, chief
engineer at AMTDU, said flight
manuals for the MRH90's hook
limits and experience with other
ADF helicopters proved the starting
point.
"Some of the crewmen at
Townsville had done small amounts
of lift work during their training in
France, but background information
was limited," he said.
Subtle variables between the
MRH90 and Black Hawk mean that
performance differences may not be
seen until flight testing. "Because
of this, we ensured our trials started
slow and then worked up to high-
er airspeeds, like we would for
any completely new equipment,"
SQNLDR Hare said.
"Additionally, Eurocopter
requires that all MRH90 loads
incorporate a swivel in their rigging,
which isn't always the case with the
Black Hawk.
"This was easy to incorporate
and potentially helped with load sta-
bility -- so it was a positive differ-
ence."